I watched chuggers to see who they approached. I wasn't surprised

I don't know this man. He is larger than me, and probably a couple of years older. He is certainly much louder than I am, as I give my flustered reply.

"Sorry, I'm late for a train."

Do charity collectors target women?Credit:Darren Pateman

"Come on, babe, there'll be another one," he cuts me off, verbally and physically. With his body in front of me and the steady flow of commuters coming out of Wynyard station's York Street entrance, I have nowhere else to go.

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This isn't a matter of feeling unsafe: there are plenty of people around and this man is in his uniform at his place of work. But, as the passersby slow to see how I will react, I do feel embarrassed and annoyed. And stuck.

I don't give him any money. I do add Greenpeace to my list.

I've started a list of the charities whose male representatives harass me on the street.

We often think of street harassment as cat-calling out of cars in the early hours of the morning, but my personal experience of it is increasingly occurring in broad daylight, by backpackers with buckets and clipboards (because there's nothing like a bit of sleaze when learning about the plight of the Rohingya).

The list began after an altercation with a chugger ("charity mugger") in Pitt Street Mall whose organisation I didn't manage to note.

"Hey?" I looked up from my phone as he continued his line. "Oh hey, sexy, are you calling me?"

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He reached to take the phone out of my hand.

"How can you be calling me if you don't have my number, beautiful? Let me put it in."

Was he going to pivot our conversation from attempted larceny to saving the whales? I snatched my phone back from the literal daylight robber and bolted before I could learn.

"Come on! I was just joking!"

A representative for Cornucopia Consultancy, the agency that supplies "face-to-face marketers" to charities including the Cancer Council, Mission Australia and Oxfam, said its staff abide by the standard set by the Public Funding Regulatory Association (PFRA), the self-regulatory body for face-to-face marketing in Australia.

Section 2.4 of the standard – titled "behaviour" – contains a few pertinent clauses, notably that fundraisers must use "respectful ... verbal and body language" and not be seen to be "making sexual advances". They must also not "mislead a member of the public", be reasonably viewed as "forcing a member of the public to enter a conversation against [their] will", or "attempt to follow or comment to a member of the public after a conversation has ended".

Of course, everyone is annoyed by chuggers. But some groups do seem to bear the brunt more than others.

The way chuggers approach their potential donors is unsettlingly gendered. Women in these roles do not pursue men on the street by calling them a "stud" or trying to take their phones out of their hands. In fact, women in these roles seem to hardly pursue men at all.

I regularly find myself waiting to cross at the lights opposite Chippendale's Central Park mall, a chugging hot spot. Watching from across the road, male members of the public seem to just walk past as the chuggers, men and women, seek out the women in the crowd.

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Keen for some data, earlier this week I went to Pitt Street mall at evening peak hour to do a little experiment. In the 30 minutes I watched three men in Mission Australia T-shirts, they approached 97 people (most of the interactions were a rejected outstretched hand). Just six were men. (Funnily enough, the only person who appeared to exchange details with the iPad-wielding chuggers was one of those men.)

Curious, a colleague also watched a group of chuggers, operating between the University of Sydney and Redfern station on a Wednesday afternoon. In 15 minutes, she reported not one white man was approached, and most targets were women.

There is no large-scale data on whom chuggers approach. However, when it comes to sign-ups, Peter Hills-Jones, chief executive of the PFRA, said "the data collected by charities that [he has] seen would suggest the numbers of people who sign up after speaking to a F2F fundraiser are broadly equal in terms of gender".

"We don’t have any specific guidance on approaching different genders or races, as all people should be treated equally and this is reflected in the integrity, honesty and respect principles [of the PFRA]," he added.

The PFRA has not received any formal complaints about the behaviour of face-to-face marketers this year. (So, now women know what to do the next time a chugger makes them feel uncomfortable on the street.)

When I contacted Mission Australia about the way their collectors appeared to be targeting women in their pursuits, a spokesperson said the organisation "continues to be committed to ensuring all donors and potential donors are treated fairly, honestly and with respect".

“Face to face fundraising continues to be one of the most effective ways that charities can engage the public for the support that we need to help some of the most disadvantaged Australians," they said, adding that they valued "all feedback on our fundraising approach and act quickly to address any specific concerns".

But, here's a little secret for those with the buckets: you're employing a terribly inefficient fundraising strategy for these – generally very worthy – causes.

Women in this country make 15.3 per cent less than their male counterparts. So, if you want to make commission, you should really consider chasing the bloke in the suit.

His deep voice might be more likely to mouth you off, but I think you'll find his pockets are pretty deep, too.